Author and host of the hit OUTDOOR CHANNEL show SHOOTING GALLERY spouts off...

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Public Statement by Dave Sevigny

I haven't touched this mess, but because this mess has touched a good friend of mine I need to put this up. Dave Sevigny has always been a stand-up guy, a straight shooter and a friend. This public statement was published today on his Facebook Page, and if Dave says it, it is true:

Now that my 2011 season is over I wish to address what at least one person has referred to as "the elephant in the room". http://sassbrassnbullets.com/2011/09/08/elephant-in-the-room/

Please rest assured, I am as shocked as anyone regarding the accusations involving Billy Abbate and a fifteen year old minor. It has been incredibly hurtful to hear some people are speculating that I may have also been involved. Nothing could be further from the truth. Let me be clear: I am not a suspect, nor will I ever be. I also was not a witness to any inappropriate behavior between the two, nor did I have any reason to suspect much less know that Abbate was engaging in a secret and illegal affair with the minor girl.

I have heard criticisms that I somehow should have known about the secret relationship between the minor and Mr. Abbate. I don’t see how, especially when I was not told the truth about their “friendship”. In fact, the family of the minor and Mr. Abbate had a closer relationship than I ever did with either party. I have also heard rumors that I engaged in lewd or distasteful acts with the minor. Rest assured, these disgusting rumors are patently false. I don't know if a specific individual is purposely spreading lies or if people are just widely speculating that I must somehow be involved because of my recent departure from my old sponsor. Regardless, I want to set the record straight and hope this puts an end to these sickening rumors.

Throughout my eleven year association with my former sponsor (eight years of which I served as an employee), I was completely loyal to the company. I acted as a mentor to numerous shooting team members and built a winning record of 150+ major championship wins using products from this company. I am proud of what I have accomplished. Some have said that I am taking the rest of the year off. While I am done competing this season by choice, I will rise above this unfortunate incident and will work hard on building a brand that will endure, just like I did before.

@Justbill...It wasn't Jessie, though she married Billy and was 19 yrs younger than him. The "victim" is still on the team. When something like this happens and there are arrests and criminal charges, it seems as if a giant fishnet is thrown by the legal eagles and they try to rake in whatever they can, regardless of the victim's feelings or how it effects others. In this case, Dave became the fall guy and we can only hope none of us end up in such a situation. The most we can learn from this is to make sure that minors are ALWAYS with guardians when traveling or training. That was never Dave's job.

The move to make shooting and the shooting sports the new rock n roll stars ends up with this kind of stuff going on. If you think that you can jazz up all the TV shows, show provocative pictures in ads, have models in bikini's at the NRA show without attracting the "wrong" crowd to our sport and heritage you're kidding yourself.

The TV shows are starting to really turn me off. The "sexed" up, yelling and screaming, trailer trash goober attitudes are ruining the outdoors, sportsman image we have had for two hundred years in America.

Being able to run a gun in competition didn't protect a young girl from a pedophile shooter.

Anon, What I meant was I feel bad for Jessie's marriage being ruined by the selfish acts of her perverted ex and his un-named girlfriend. Although I guess there's little doubt who she is after Googling the subject.

Lets play "Devil's Advocate" here; Dave is no doubt the "fall guy" in this situation. Why is he no longer representing Glock? Is it because of his so called "close friendship" to Billy Abbate or that he didn't report information to his employer that he did NOT have in the first place. What spooked Glock into believing making Dave the "fall guy" was the right action? Sounds like someone put FALSE information into Glock VPs... Did anyone ever stop to think how did this minor and Billy Abbate become so close in the first place? Take a look at the date that this article, from Abbate's home county newspaper, reports as to when this relationship started: http://www.henryherald.com/news/2011/aug/19/shooting-coach-businessman-facing-molestation-char/?ts=1313830550

According to the date reported, this consensual relationship had been going on for well over a year before being reported to the police. Did anyone ever stop to think where the parents might be in all this or even perhaps the (now) ex-wife? But instead, the person who catches the worst bite is Dave Sevigny. He is not the one to blame. It wasn't his responsiblity to chapperone, that would be under the title of being a parent. No one is looking at the facts reported in the articles (mostly from the Henry Herald) as to when this all started, March of 2010. And yet everyone is going to believe that the parents were completely clueless and continuously allowed their daughter to spend hours with Abbate, knowing he was going thru a not so clean divorce with a woman that is 20 years younger than him.

Some speculators are only seeing the envious side of this situation, instead of seeing the ENTIRE picture! The adults who are RESPONSIBLE for the minor and have been since this relationship began with Abbate need to accept the facts in this case and own up to their negligence. Dave is not the one to blame. Him, along with the rest of the shooting industry had not one clue that this relationship was taking place between Abbate and the minor.

As far as the word "victim" being used... could be questionable. Has anyone ever stopped and actually defined it? One that is being forced, tricked or duped. After reading this article, it's hard to believe that the "victim" even sees herself as a victim; http://www.henryherald.com/news/2011/aug/25/conditional-100000-bond-set-abbate/?ts=1313830550Trying to secretly visit Abbate after the parents went to the police doesn't sound like a "victim's" actions. But of course, the envious spectators can't use what little brains they have to read a few articles here and there and put two and two together to see this situation for what it is. After all there are numerous minors having consensual sex with adults everyday and committing first degree murder, but do not have the hammer coming down on them. The Henry Herald also reported that the minor has stated that it was consensual, meaning she was not forced. When do these minors/victims accept responsibility for their actions? The article also said there were explicit photos of their relations...

Everyone stop and take a breath, quit assuming and believing everything you "HEAR". Read the newspaper and use some commensense. It doesn't take a genius to figure this out!

Handling minors in professional endeavors requires more than a random adult becoming a "mentor" or "guardian". Look at the school systems in towns and cities. There are training requirements, legal counseling, and supervisory monitoring. And that isn't always enough.

These gun companies may think its just fine to hire a 15 year old kid as a pro but they are playing with fire. If they are not prepared to "fence in" the youngsters, protecting themselves from themselves and others, they risk this kind of event.

I have nothing against kids in shooting, but like the LPGA, Tennis or any other pro activity, they need dedicated watching. Either that or you put in place a minimum age for the industry.

Glock ultimately is to blame for this. They have one CFO going to jail, and I bet ya there is a multi million dollar law suit just waiting for them over this.

The Glock executive deal happened a while back... nothing real recent, it's just now going to trial.

It seems as though this is the only blog that actually has some good intel, being that it is anonymous. Goes to show many are cautious to provide gritty details. It's obvious reading info on other forums and facebook that the "rumor feeders" are quick to spit out what they might believe to be truthful facts, but can never back their statements with reliable sources.

Paul F. Jannuzzo, a former New Jersey prosecutor who served as Austria-based Glock's general counsel and top executive in the U.S. from 1991 to 2003, was extradited earlier this year from Amsterdam, where he fled in 2009 shortly before he was scheduled to go to trial on the charges.

Glad to know it wasn't related to this whole mess. I saw the article about the attempted murder on the elderly Mr.Glock himself by his partner. Seems as if the company has plenty of skeletons in their closet. Too bad they are so quick to the trigger and lost the one and only true Good Guy they had representing them! R. Lee Ermey is a nice guy..but not like Dave..a true class act and ambassador to the sport. Monkeys have run that asylum. Dave is too good for them!

I agree with you on this forum. Thanks Michael. It's good to know some people can still read and critically think for themselves! The rumor mill only has one concern. Throwing stones at the fruitful tree in order to deflect from their own part in all of this. I would love to see the parents be made responsible for what they have done to their girl. Those shorts and tight shirts! Leaving her alone with a guy who obviously loves them young..19 yrs the elder of Jessie and apparently had her pinned from a much earlier age. God knows what she's been through too! Abbate used his power and authority on so many levels to bring their minds to his. Its sad that they were corrupted but then...no one stopped it. Rather that image was encouraged. Parents are to blame..not Glock...though they are as dysfunctional as the family.

While I have heard nothing but good things about Dave! I have to say that a public statement on the issue was pretty dumb. As the fans, media and forums were wondering where Dave was going to land after leaving Glock, there was very little talk or speculation about this matter and any involvement on Sevigny's part. The Internet seemed (and still seems to be) universally supportive of Dave, and was wondering more about what company he would be shooting for next. You have to remember the internet is forever, and as this gets reposted and reposted the statement has switched the search engine's and internet's attention from his amazing shooting accomplishments and skills to this matter with every repost, comment, and google search, forever tying his name to it -involved or not. As an avid competitor and gun forum fan, II wasn't even aware of Dave being involved. Now it is getting replayed everywhere. Bad move. Get a good lawyer and PR agency Dave. Best of luck.

Funny how all those out there in the industry with platforms for driving home the sales of some new gadget, some new fabulous training school, some new something, fall silent when one of their own turns out to be a pervert. No more "my good friend", no more "shooting makes for good character". Billy who?

Where were all the industry types, match sponsors, match organizers, tv show types, the publicity types promoting the young kids, taking photos, approving interviews and appearances? That this was going on for at least a year? You think this was the first and only time this guy was hitting on an underage girl? You think he is the only cretin out there?

" As an avid competitor and gun forum fan, I wasn't even aware of Dave being involved. Now it is getting replayed everywhere. Bad move. Get a good lawyer and PR agency Dave. Best of luck."

While that is true, the google searches haven't gone bad on Dave. Rather quite the opposite when you look at how many years he's been in the sport. This is only one unfortunate incident. Seeing the history inside Glock, he's damn lucky he wasn't involved in some corp. crap along the way before now. He's still at the top of his game. I suppose he could have stayed quiet and let rumors change and morph into something even more perverted, attaching those ideas with his name in the minds of those he thought as friends, fans and sponsors. I'm sure staying silent only fueled those who thought they could get away with that kind of malicious behavior and made it seem like he might have something to hide by not responding to them. I can see from the posts on his FB page that the fans obviously appreciate the fact that he addressed the issue rather than ignored it or let it be speculated on forever...which would have been even more damaging. Also, why would he need a lawyer and a whole PR campaign if he didn't do anything to start with? I think he's said it all and its done with now. I'm sure his sponsors appreciate clearing the air, as well. As a fan, I thought it was appropriate and classy. Thanks Dave for doing what's right...like usual.

So some have heard only about Sevigny's departure from Glock and others have heard the explanation behind it, and yes the flags are up on where he will go next.

Whether or not anyone had heard of this "situation" Sevigny made the appropriate move by releasing his "Public Statement". For the ones who had heard much speculation, his words answered their questions; For the ones who had not, let this be a form of proven loyalty by Sevigny that he wanted his friends, family and fans to hear of his situation from him first.

It looks as though Sevigny has had more support than anything else and it's pathetic of certain blameless people to have handle this matter the way they have.

As for this statement becoming public knowledge across the internet; let it be permanent. This was an act of truth and honesty coming from someone who has been well respected by the shooting industry and its' spectators for years. Sevigny has made a name for himself and is not one to sit back and let a handful of egotistical people attempt to ruin him.

We will see how truthful his statement to his fans will be when he and Brooke are called to testify and starts pleading the fifth ammedment to prevent self incrimination in the Abbate trial that started last Monday. See the Article in last Sunday's Henry Herald in Henry County Georgia. Why plead the fifth if you haven't done anything wrong? Why attempt to quash the supeona ordering you to trial?

According to the Henry Daily Herald, January 27, 2013, the following excerpt provided here in part:

"According to filings last week in Henry County Superior Court, two prosecution witnesses have asked for their subpoenas to be quashed based on their own potential legal troubles. Attorneys for Dave and Brooke Sevigny allege the Henry County Police Department has its own unspecified open investigation into the couple and that they’ve been approached by agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation for questioning.

#If called as witnesses, the attorneys state the couple may have to invoke their right to not present evidence that could incriminate them — plead the Fifth Amendment.

#The couple represents Sevigny Performance, providing competition shooting training. According to their website, the couple is working with Gaston J Glock Style LP and will be competing in more than 20 events during the 2013 season.

The following post is a lengthy one and I apologize for that. However given the gravity of the situation, there is no way to put a subject about 24 counts of Child Molestation into an abbreviated form. Thank-you Michael Blane Blog in advance for allowing me this opportunity. Billy Abbate was charged with 24 various counts of child molestation. On Thursday afternoon February 7, 2013 he was found not guilty on 23 of those counts. The Jury did not believe the story that the victim and the Henry County Police Investigators put together. All of the victim's allegations were neutralized and proved false by testimony and hard documented evidence from representatives of Glock, Jessie's former agent, locksmiths, his own former mother in law (yes Jessie's mom) and many more. He was found guilty on the charge of allegedly providing his victim with a sex toy for his own pleasure. Even so the jury was divided on that matter and debated it for a great deal of time but finally ruled guilty.Per the victim's own testimony, that event came about when the victim was using a "toy" in a common room when Billy entered the room he saw her and told her to go to her bedroom or someother area. She declined and he threw a towel over her. He should have just left the room.Also brought into evidence was that the victim had several issues with drugs, alcohol and other disfunctions. There are video captures of her in an extremely debilitated state while under the influence of something.Another thing to mention that came out in the trial, contrary to the hundreds of posters on the web who have developed their own mind set about what happened, Jessie cheated on Billy first with Duff, Billy had hard evidence from a private investigator. The victim was only just starting to train with them at that time. Jessie did not get what she wanted in her divorce settlement, which Billy by the way did not want and struggled for almost a year to keep her, so she initiated this manipulative plan to ruin both Billy and the victim.All those child porn pictures on his computers and cell phones? None. They did forensic testing of tons of SD cards, hard drives, computer server data bases and nothing was found. No erased porn pictures no segemnted porn pictures, nothing. The alleged missing hard drives to the laptop computer? Found in a box that once contained a portable hard drive that was used as a backup drive for his other computers. Were they forensically checked? from the mouth of the detective -"No sir".

One pornographic picture of victim was found on an I-Phone. From testimony on the stand, the victim sent it. "How do you know this is you?" asks the ADA, "from the bed sheets, those are mine" replied the victim.The big deal the ADA made about the victim's name being stored in Billy's phone as Michael Hunt (play with the name for a while and some of you might get the hidden meaning)? The victim suggested it. "That's what the kids in school use to hide the identity of who they are having sex with" was her response to cross examination.Oh, and Dave Sevigny did come, did testify and vehemently and aggressivelt denied the charges that the assistant DA was trying to get him to confirm against Billy and Himself and Brooke.As to all of the other states who are pending charges against Billy, only one and that is Virginia but not because the victim was under age, technically age of consent in VA is also 16, unless the perp is in a position of authority or power over the victim such as a teacher, coach, minister. If that is the case the age of consent is 18.There are no other indictments against him, events did not happen in Florida, California or other states as has been alleged.Apparently there was more on and off range hanky panky between Jessie and Duff than Billy and the victim. Continued...

Part 2 - The things heard about the victim in the courtroom, much of it out of her own mouth was astounding and shocking. It was also pathetic how she had to be coached regarding the questioning and how she could never remember specific details of times or dates even though she had a "timeline" prepared for the cops that her mom and family friend/lawyer helped her prepare. It was also interesting that the victim's father refused to allow her to speek to the Henry County Police Department or her hometown police department unless the family friend/lawyer was present. Interview tapes showed her being coached by the family frien/lawyer during the interview process, and often times was cued, guided, redirected with her answer by the detective who handled the case.Court documents are not sealed in this matter they are open record, the Henry Country Newspaper basically took some short notes obviously from statements made by the ADA and the defense lawer.I hope they get off of Dave and Brooke's back as well as anyone else, this was a horrid mess started by a woman jealous of a rising contender that will probably put her to shame, a father and mother who were totally irresponsible and deliberately kept a blind eye to the problems their daughter had so that it wouldn't mess up getting the golden eggs from their golden goose.And here too Billy was totally irresponsible to allow himself to be put into such a position. He has lost everything he worked to achieve, and he achieved so much, but ultimately it is his fault as well and now he will continue to suffer the outcome of this event.Whether you believe this or not, there are other sites that have bloggers and people like myself that were actually in the courtroom and heard the testimony. No half ass crap from an uninformed and lazy news source.

Sentencing is next Friday, mandatory sentencing rules in Georgia could get him from 5 to 20 years in prison, a Felony Conviction, no parole for watching a girl play with herself with a"toy" that they alleged he provided her but could never prove.

Part 3 -As to those toys, on the stand, it was verified that they actually did belong to someone else who used to live and visit that household.My pet peeve about this issue is the media and uninformed bloggers who were never in the courtroom for the duration of the trial. There were numerous saliciously graphic allegations made over a year ago in the paper and on local TV.Now that it is over and several people's careers ruined by the allegations of a victim with issues and her parents who certainly have issues, no one is there to report on those allegations with the facts that came out in the trial.

For all those shooters out there that may hate Billy Abbate, you need to get one thing clear, he was never an employee for Glock, trained for Glock or had anything to do with them other than landing Jessie a deal with them. He did train Jessie, but the Glock training relationship with the victim was actually with Jessie and the victim's parents.The victim and her father reached out to Jessie, not Billy, on facebook, later met and set up training.Sorry for taking up so much space and making this a short novel, but with all the misinformation, lies, "poor Jessie" "poor victim" "poor family", the truth needs to be told in one clear concise block of information. For the nonbelievers, the court documents are available for public viewing, this was not a sealed case, the evidence entered is all there. I was there personally, I saw and heard every aspect of this unfortunate crap, but what I never saw was anyone from any media except Beth Cowsgill who was there as a witness as well.

As Boortz always said..."Don't believe me, go look for yourself. It's there if you choose to find it.

"As far as the word "victim" being used... could be questionable. Has anyone ever stopped and actually defined it? One that is being forced, tricked or duped. After reading this article, it's hard to believe that the "victim" even sees herself as a victim; "

Fifteen year olds that wind up in sexual relationships with 49 year old married men WHO ARE THEIR TEACHERS are indeed victims.

We better hope you have better judgement with your firearms than you do about teenage girls.